It is conventional to string continuous flexible conduits along the floor joists so as to provide the necessary utility systems in new and old constructions. For example, a continuous coil of cross-linked polyethylene tubings for use in hot and cold water systems are commercially available in 300 and 1000 foot lengths of continuous tubing coils prepackaged in a cardboard box for use by the plumbing contractor. The 300 foot coiled conduits are lighter and easier to handle than the industrialized 1000 foot size and are generally preferred for use especially in the smaller commercial and residential projects. The prepackaged coiled conduits are indexed with footage markings so as to enable a worker to ascertain the remaining amount of coiled conduit and footage actually used at any given construction site. Typically, a 300 foot continuous coil of the water tubing (e.g. such as AQUAPEX®, a cross-linked polyethylene tubing sold and distributed by Wirsbo Company, an Ill. Corp., having a principal business address at 5925 148th Street West, Apply Valley, Minn., often complimented with a hePEX™ coating serving as an added oxygen barrier coating) will be boxed and shipped in a rectangular cardboard box measuring about 32 inches square in widths ranging from 4, 6, and 10 inches in 300 foot lengths respectively for ½″, ¾″, and 1″ diameter tubes. A boxed and cinched strapped 300 foot of ½ inch coil will typically weigh about eighteen pounds, while a ¾ inch diameter packaged coil weighs about 34 pounds and a one inch prepackaged coil weighs about 56 pounds. In contrast a 500 foot prepackaged coil of one inch diameter tubing will weigh about 94 pounds and accordingly packaged in a container of a wider width to accommodate the larger sized coiled conduit size. In conventional practice, the plumbing contractor will either remove or open the top panel flap of the cardboard box so that, after cutting the binding straps, the outermost tubing free-end may then be unwound from the coil. The most typical procedure involves dispensing the uncoiled water tubing from an open top flap of the shipping box which continues until the tubing ultimately rips thru the bottom of the box. As the tubing is unwound from the coil, it is then typically strung and secured to floor joists by conduit or joist staples or by drilling conduit holes through the floor joists so as to provide the necessary conduit for the water supply system. The stringing process typically commences at one of the terminating ends of the water system and then stringing towards the water source or vice versa. With use, dragging the heavy conduit box across floors, such as concrete basement floors, ultimately damages or destroys the box so it is no longer useful to box the unused coil. Thus, coiled water tubing is poorly suited to be dispensed from the original shipping container in this manner.
It is also not an easy task to uncoil the relatively stiff water tubing from the tubing coil while also trying to string the uncoiled tubular conduit through holes bored through floor joists or onto the conduit anchoring or suspending sites. The water tubing becomes stiffer and less flexible in cold weather. Often, it becomes necessary to interrupt the stringing process to unkink or untangle a snarled coil or to fix a damaged conduit before proceeding any further with the stringing of conduit along the floor joints. If the entanglement becomes too severe, it may become necessary to splice a damaged tube section so as to retain the necessary continuity in the piping or water system. If the conduit containing or shipping box fails to contain the coiled conduit, the conduit often errantly uncoils into a tangled mess which then becomes most difficult to manage and string. Invariably, it becomes necessary in normal operations to remove the last 150 feet or so coiled conduit from the shipping container and use at least two workers to unravel and uncoil the coiled conduit so that it may be effectively strung onto the floor joists. Under the prior art practices, the entire unreeling procedure is at best tedious and fraught with many difficulties which impede effective stringing of the conduit.
The current system for stringing continuous conduits of water tubing is time consuming and if not done with the most appropriate care, can lead to premature uncoiling of the conduit, damage or splicing of the water tubing or other costly delays. In order to facilitate the unwinding of the coiled tubing, it is often advantageous to have one worker pulling or stringing the water tubing along the stringers or floor joists while another worker tends to the unwinding of the coiled tubing. A procedure or device which would allow a single worker to effectively uncoil the conduit and install the system at the construction site would be of particular value and usefulness.
There accordingly exists a need for a utility conduit dispensing device which would allow a single worker to effectively unwind and install a conduit system along the floor joist or other suitable mounts. A dispensing device which would uniformly and unerringly unwind the coiled conduit from its coiled structure or source while allowing a single worker to string, staple or thread the required tubing to the anchoring joists as needed would significantly reduce installation costs and reduce damage to the tubing.